The Last Trick
by ASouthernRussian
Summary: Ruby has been pranked every Halloween by Yang and wants to get even, but will her revenge go too far?


In the cool hours of one late October morning, Yang slipped out of bed as quietly as she could. The sun had yet to rise and no one in their right mind would have woken themselves up so early on a holiday morning, but Yang had a job to do.

She dipped her hand into her backpack and pulled out a hideous mask that had the likeness of a decomposing corpse, grinning fiendishly as she examined it. Once she had fitted the mask over her head – making sure to pull her long, golden mane out of the way – Yang climbed up her sister's bunk and crawled up next to her. She had done this sort of thing many times before, but that didn't stop Yang from quivering with excitement. When Ruby didn't stir, Yang drew her fingers slowly across Ruby's face and whispered with a raspy voice, "Ruuuuuuby…" Ruby remained motionless.

Undeterred, Yang repeated her call, her voice growing hoarser and louder with each pass of her fingers over Ruby's face. After the fourth try, Ruby began to fidget a little, her face squirming as though she was seeing a bad dream. Yang saw this as the sign to further escalate her action and brought her face as close to Ruby's ear as she could without touching it and rasped, "Waaaaaake up, Ruuuuby…."

Slowly, Ruby showed signs of movement. She mumbled something unintelligible as she lazily turned over to face the source of the noise. "Who is that?" she dimly asked, slowly opening her eyes. "What are y-" Her eyes shot open wide with horror.

"Goooood moooorning," Yang croaked.

Ruby's piercing scream and panicked writhing sent Yang tumbling out of the bed. Yang had prepared for this eventuality, however, and landed on her feet. As she watched her sister squirm in the bunk above, Yang tried her best to keep her composure, but she couldn't stop herself. She bent over with loud, hearty laughter, which woke up the others in the room.

"What's going on?" Blake asked blearily, rubbing away tiredness from her eyes.

"Yeah, and why is my bed shaking so violently all of a sudden?" Weiss asked. She scanned the room until she saw Yang cackling on the floor. With a groan, she deadpanned, "What did you do this time?"

Yang did not answer her immediately, as she was still rolling on the floor with mad laughter. Instead, Weiss's answer came from a quavering, furious voice from the bunk above her.

"She… she… she woke me up and she was wearing that… _stupid_ , scary mask and kept clawing at me like she was some sort of monster!" Ruby gripped the edge of her bed with trembling hands, staring daggers at her big sister. "I hate you!"

Yang, now recovered for her bout of laughter, brushed away Ruby's words. "Aw, come on, lil' sis, you're okay now, there's no monster creeping around." She clicked her tongue with a grin and pointed jovially at Ruby. "Still, I got you good this time!"

Weiss scowled at Yang. "And whatever possessed you to do that to your sister?"

"Ooohhh." Everyone turned to look at Blake. "I forgot: today is Halloween, isn't it?"

"Right you are, partner!" Yang cheered, puffing out her chest triumphantly. "And in our family, we put the 'trick' in 'trick-or-treating'!"

"Yeah, except that always means that I'm always the one getting tricked!" Ruby shrieked. She then quickly looked down to Weiss. "You know, this wasn't even that bad this time. Last year, Yang put a live tarantuala on my bed, and three years ago, she jumped out of a closest with a mummy costume while I was going to the bathroom late at night." Her voice dropped to a whisper as she shrank away in embarrassment. "I… I couldn't..."

"She peed in her pants!" Yang once again burst out laughing, and this time neither Weiss nor Blake could suppress a snort. "Ah, good times, good times," Yang said with an air of nostalgia. "I don't think I'll ever top that moment."

"W-well, you know what, missy?" Ruby stammered, pouting at Yang. "This year I just might beat you at your own game."

Yang gazed up at her little sister, amazed at her words. "Really now?" she said in surprise. "You've never tried to do me over with a Halloween prank before. I wonder if you really got it in you… I mean, I know all the tricks in the book, and now that you told me, I'm going to be expecting it." Yang flashed a smug smile at Ruby. "Do you really think you're gonna get me good?"

Ruby paused for a moment before returning a grim smile. "I think I just might be able to."

* * *

After their eventful morning, team RWBY went down into the city of Vale to walk about and enjoy the Halloween festivities. It was still a long while before nightfall, when the real party started, but seeing all the decorations being set up, all the fantastic costumes people were wearing, seeing the scent of pumpkin, spice, and sweet in the cool autumn air were just as enjoyable. As they were ambling along the streets, though, Yang was constantly on the lookout.

Ever since her little sister proclaimed that she had a prank of her own prepared for her, Yang made every effort to not be caught unawares. At breakfast, she prodded her bowl of cereal cautiously for any sign of something amiss. When she left the room to go take a shower, Yang carefully scanned her bed and backpack for anything unpleasant – a whoopee cushion, a cockroach, perhaps even glue – until she felt satisfied that Ruby had done nothing to them. The day went on in this fashion, and throughout it, Yang couldn't find anything that warned her of an incoming prank.

Rather than comfort her, that lack of action put Yang in a slight state of unease. It seemed as though Ruby was planning on getting her revenge in a much subtler way, and Yang knew just how much Ruby likes to throw herself into her projects when she really wants to get something done. Whatever was coming, it was going to be big, and Yang didn't know just how big.

Still, out in Vale, Yang felt reasonably confident that whatever Ruby's trick was, it would probably come later in the evening, when the dark made it much easier to frighten people. Besides, Ruby was not one for attracting attention to herself, so she wouldn't dare try pulling off her prank in the middle of the street. Letting out a breath that seemed trapped in lungs for a long time, Yang relaxed.

"So, Ruby," she said with a start. "You still mad at me from this morning?" Her grin widened when Ruby shot a mean glance at her, but Ruby quickly composed herself.

"Nah, all's fair in love and war, right?" Ruby chirped in response. Her eyes narrowed as a devious look crossed her face. "Besides, I know that my little present for you is gonna totally make up for all the stuff you did over the years."

"Just don't do it when we're all supposed to be asleep," Weiss interrupted. "Tomorrow is the last day before Professor Port's big midterm, and if get so much as a B+ on account of you ruining my peaceful sleep, I'm going to put a tarantula in your bed myself."

Ruby let out a horrified squeak, while the other two began snickering – partially because Yang couldn't ever imagine Weiss ever handing one of those hairy spiders herself. Once she finished, Yang waved her hand dismissively at Weiss. "Nah, let her try her best to scare me. I wanna see what she can do when she goes all out."

The four of them continued walking on and joking about what Ruby might or might not try to pull off for a while afterward until Blake stopped in tracks, her eyes looking up toward Beacon intently. "The 5 o'clock bell just chimed," she stated plainly. "We ought to get back so we have time for dinner and preparing our costumes for the party."

As if taken up by some sudden thought, Ruby jolted upright and began running in the other direction, away from the school. "Where are you going?" Yang shouted after her.

"I, uh, promised Jaune that I was going to bring him something from one of the shops before coming back!" Ruby shouted back, not bothering to slow down.

"Don't you want us to come with you?" Yang asked loudly. She sensed that something wasn't quite right with Ruby, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.

Ruby was already halfway down the street before she replied, so Yang could barely make out what she said. "What?" Yang shouted back. "It's a what now?"

"She said that Jaune told her to keep what she was getting a secret and didn't want anyone else to know," Blake corrected. "Though I can't imagine what Jaune would want Ruby to get that he doesn't want us to know about…"

"I'd imagine it's something for Pyrrha," Yang snickered. "And Ruby is probably Jaune's best friend aside from Pyrrha herself, so it makes sense for her to help him."

"Guys, you're forgetting what we were just talking about a few minutes ago," Weiss interrupted. When both Blake and Yang looked quizzically at her, Weiss rolled her eyes and gestured emphatically. "The prank? Remember? She's probably off to get supplies to set up whatever she has planned for you, Yang."

Yang considered this new information with a little concern. Sure, she was apprehensive about whatever stunt Ruby was going to pull, but more than that, she didn't like the idea of Ruby wandering around the city by herself when it was soon going to be dark. Still, Ruby was a capable huntress, Yang thought with a warm smile, and she could take care of herself.

"Well, it's her loss for missing out on the Halloween feast!" Yang exclaimed cheerfully. "Come on, let's get back to Beacon before out food gets cold."

* * *

It took another hour and a half after they had returned to the school for Yang to start worrying for her sister. Surely by now she would have found the items she needed, whether they were for Jaune or for her impending prank? A few minutes ago, she had sent Ruby a text asking when she would be back, but Yang still didn't get a response from her. She kept catching herself stealing a glance at her scroll every five minutes in the vain hope that Ruby would reply. She didn't stir from her revere until Blake elbowed her in the side.

"You're not usually supposed to be the grumpy one, you know," she told Yang, holding out a cup of punch for her. Yang smiled gratefully at her partner and accepted the drink from her. "I wouldn't worry about Ruby too much. She's a big girl, she can handle herself."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Yang said wearily after draining the cup in one gulp. "It's just… I have this nagging feeling that something's wrong." After a lengthy pause, she continued. "I dunno, maybe it's just my stupid big sister feelings getting the best of me."

Blake placed a hand on Yang's shoulder and calmly beamed at her. "See? You understand yourself what's going on. Besides, if you really need to find Ruby, you can always track her using the beacon in her scroll. We can help, too, if you want."

Blake's words finally put Yang at ease. She released the tension that wound up her muscles and returned the smile. "Alright, I'll go after Ruby if I don't hear from her in an hour." She looked over to where the rest of her friends had gathered, laughing as they watched Jaune bob for apples with little success. "Oh, man, this I gotta see!" With that, she and Blake bounded over to the others and joined in on the Halloween festivities.

Not much time passed before Yang forgot all about Ruby and her worries about her whereabouts as she instead focused on the present activities. From Pin-the-tail-on-the-Beowolf to bobbing for apples to pumpkin carving, Yang lost herself to the merriment of the occasion. In fact, she was so engrossed in carving a likeness of Zwei into one of her pumpkins that she almost didn't notice her scroll buzzing in her pocket. Immediately, thoughts of Ruby's continued absence rushed into her head, and Yang snatched up the scroll with shaky fingers.

The message simply read, "Ogre Street warehouse. Come quickly."

Anxious, Yang quickly typed out her reply. "Are you okay?"

After a minute of no response, Yang saw Ruby's response scroll across the screen. "Just come! It's important."

While this didn't placate Yang's initial worry, it did begin to rouse her suspicions. What in the world was Ruby doing in Ogre Street? Vale, in general, was a good city and lacked a real shady district, but Ogre Street came close. Unlike the rest of the city, Ogre Street and the surrounding neighborhoods were largely ignored by city maintenance, meaning that it tended to house a poorer, rougher kind of folk. Why would Ruby want her to come there?

A spark of recognition flashed through Yang's mind. _The prank!_ Yang smiled, almost beside herself with pride. If Ruby had picked that location to set up her trick, then it might indeed surpass any of Yang's former Halloween pranks, even if she knew it was coming. Not many other places in Vale could surpass Ogre Street in spookiness, especially on that particular night. Sure, it might have been just a bit _too_ sketchy of a place for her little sister, but Yang decided that she would scold Ruby for it later.

As she threw on a coat and made to leave the party, Blake caught Yang by the arm. "Where are you going?" she asked, concerned. "Is it Ruby?"

"Yeah, she told me to come meet her somewhere on Ogre Street. I have a feeling this is all part of her plan to get back at me."

Blake quirked an eyebrow. "Ogre Street? That's an odd place to be. Are you sure she's alright?" Her question lingered in the air a while, making Yang feel uneasy again. Eventually, however, she put that concern out of her mind.

"She'll be fine, I bet. Despite what people say, it's not _that_ bad of a place," Yang said, more for herself than for Blake. "I'm actually starting to be more worried for myself at this point, actually. If she wants me to go all the way out there for her prank, it's bound to be good."

Blake's scrutinizing gaze lingered on Yang for a while before she let go of Yang's arm. "Just be safe, okay? You and Ruby both."

Yang grinned her usual winning grin. "Please, in our family, we don't worry about safe."

* * *

As Yang wound her way through the web of streets and alleyways leading toward Ogre Street, her earlier anxiety was starting to get the better of her.

Perhaps she ought to put more faith in her sister, but Yang found it difficult to suppress her worries about Ruby's safety. In a moment of anxiety, Yang had tried to call her sister but to no avail. Naturally, Ruby wouldn't bother replying regardless if she was hurt or not; Yang guessed that Ruby wanted to maintain a sense of mystery about what was going on, and responding to her calls and messages would only shatter the illusion. At least, that was what Yang kept telling herself to keep calm.

As she did so, the world around her seemed to conspire to engulf Yang in the eeriest scene possible. The sun had long since dipped below the horizon, leaving nothing to light Yang's way other than a few dim, flickering street lamps and the shattered moon above. Few people milled about in the streets around her, and any she did see made Yang want to quicken her pace. She could tell that she was not meant to be there, but at least she was familiar with such an environment. Ruby, on the other hand, had previously never dare to enter this sort of place. _Why did she have to pick_ here _of all places to do this stupid prank?_

After wandering down several more dingy streets, Yang finally set foot on Ogre Street. It was as grimy and foreboding as the rest of the surrounding area, but at the very least the cobblestone street was completely devoid of people. In the dark, Yang had a hard time getting her bearings and felt very lost. She started pacing up and down the street with mounting anxiety until she finally made out the words "Ogre Street Storage" on an old, rickety building in the moonlight. _Ruby certainly knows how to set a scary mood,_ Yang thought darkly. She hesitated at the large, rusty door, fearing what might await her inside. Her nerves were already on edge, and one small creak would be enough to set her off, never mind what Ruby had planned for her. Nevertheless, she needed to know what her sister was up to, so she steeled herself and pushed on the door. The metal hinges screeched shrilly as the door swung open and Yang stepped inside.

If the outside was dark, Yang felt as though she had just plunged into the abyss. Inside, the moonlight shined meekly through windows high up on the wall and barely illuminated the looming towers of boxes and crates that were scattered throughout the warehouse. Yang could only stumble through the dark by feeling her way around the labyrinth of containers, slowly making progress through the room. Yet, was she really making progress? She had no idea where she was supposed to go or even how she convinced herself that she needed to be in that claustrophobic space, but she pressed on. Somewhere here was Ruby.

When it seemed that she wasn't getting anywhere in the dark, Yang dared to call out for her sister. "Ruby?" she cried, doing her best to mask the fear in her voice. "Where are you?" She paused, hoping for a reply, but none came. This didn't surprise Yang, since if Ruby really was luring her in for a jump scare, she would not give out her location so easily. Still, the lengths that Ruby would seem to go to so that she may exact her revenge trick scared Yang. Had she really gone too far with Ruby after all those times? Yang vowed to herself that once this affair was over, she would apologize to Ruby – if she could ever find her.

The thought stung in Yang's mind. _What am I thinking?_ Yang chastised herself. _Of course I'll be able to find Ruby! She's not gone, just… missing._ This didn't do much to assure her. Yang couldn't stand the thought of being without her little sister, nor could she bear the guilt of not being able to find her. _What would Dad say if he ever found out about this? He'd kill me for making Ruby go this far to get back at me!_ But she couldn't worry about that at the moment. Ruby was nowhere to be found, and there was no sign of her anywhere.

Then an idea hit her, something that Blake had mentioned earlier. _Of course! The signal beacon in our scrolls!_ Scolding herself for not remembering that tool sooner, Yang pulled out her scroll and opened up the team status menu. She quickly passed over all the unnecessary information until she found what she wanted: Ruby's location. The device told her that Ruby was only twenty feet away from where she stood, so Yang resumed feeling her way through the darkness, using the beacon as her guide. As she followed along the corridors of crates, Yang started intently at the little _blip_ on the screen that showed how close she was to Ruby. Eighteen feet. Sixteen feet. Thirteen feet. Ten fe—

Suddenly, Yang let out a yelp of shock as her foot slipped on some wet substance on the floor and she toppled forward. She was able to stretch out her hands in time to break her fall, though her scroll flew out of her hand in the process and crashed to the floor. Upon hearing the crack of the screen breaking and scattering along the floor, Yang cursed under her breath. _What the hell was that?_ She reached for the foot that had slipped and wiped her finger on the sole. Something wet and thick coated her fingers. Curious, Yang brought the substance to her nose and sniffed it. It smelled of iron.

 _Blood!_ Fear of what this meant surged through Yang's mind. If Ruby was nearby and so was a pool of blood, that could only mean one thing.

"RUBY!" Yang shouted desperately. _This can't be happening, there's no way that she's hurt, she can't be bleeding out, she can't be…_ "Ruby, where are you?!" The only sound Yang heard in response was the echo of her shouts bouncing off the walls of the room.

Terror gripped Yang as she scrambled around in the dark, hands fumbling around for any sign of her sister. When she could only feel dust and wooden splinters, the fear in her heart drove her to search even more frantically. She had to find Ruby. She was so close, Yang knew it! She had to see if her little sister was safe. _She HAD to be safe…_

One of her frantically swinging arms had caught hold of something: a boot. An unnatural chill dulled Yang's swarming emotions as she pulled herself toward the boot and the person who was wearing it. The dim light of the moon did little to reveal the person's feature, but Yang could still see the dark contours of a familiar form: thin limbs, a small head, and a puffy short skirt. To her horror, the dim light also revealed a pool of dark fluid creeping out from under the body.

It was Ruby, lying motionless in her own blood.

"RUBY!"

Yang lurched forward over her sister's body. The shock of what she was seeing – Ruby, her sister, bleeding out in that god-forsaken warehouse – overwhelmed her senses and her ability to act. Words of horror and grief rose and died in her throat, and her wobbling muscles threatened to collapse her. But she would not sit idle, not when Ruby was in such danger. Yang ran her fingers over Ruby's skin and quickly found the wound responsible for all the blood flowing out from Ruby: a short but seemingly deep cut into the side of her neck. Yang's own blood ran cold. _Her… that… that's her jugular!_

With quaking hands, Yang tore off her shirt and wrapped it tight around her sister's neck, pressing her hands firmly over the deep, red wound. Yang felt her face and ears grow hot and tears begin for form in her eyes. As she knelt by Ruby, she finally found her voice.

"I-I'm s-so-so s-s-sorry, Ru-ruby!" she managed to croak out in between sobs. "This is-is all m-m-my fault. I k-kept teasing you and… and pl-playing tricks on you and I-I did-didn't even real-l-lize how b-b-bad you felt!" Yang stopped, gasping for what little breath she had. She couldn't take this. She was about to lose her sister because of her stupid pranks, and the blood would be on her hands. How could she live with herself?

"I'v-ve been su-such a bad sis-s-ter to you! I l-let y-y-ou wander off on your o-own, and b-because of that, you g-got hurt. And then… and then… you m-might…" But Yang couldn't finish her thought. It was too terrible to even consider out loud. Instead, she collapsed onto her sister's body in a miserable pile of tears.

In the tumult of her grief, Yang didn't notice that the body she laid herself over was also trembling.

Before Yang could register what was happening, Ruby sprang up from the floor and wrapped her arms around her. She, too, was trembling.

"I'm sorry too, Y-Yang!" Ruby cried, squeezing her big sister tight. "I didn't th-think that this prank was gonna be this b-bad! I tho-though you would k-know that I was ki-kidding!"

Yang peeled herself away from Ruby, gazing at her sister in disbelief. How could this be? Just a moment before, Ruby lay on the ground, bleeding and motionless, but now she was hugging her? Yang didn't know whether to be overjoyed or incredulous. She had a hard time making out her features in the dim light from above, but Yang could see that Ruby looked completely unperturbed by the cut in her neck. Pointing at it, she stammered, "B-but you're seriously hurt! What ha-happened?"

"O-oh," Ruby replied, a hint of shame in her voice. To Yang's astonishment, Ruby dug her fingers under where the scar was on her neck and seemingly peeled off the flesh. Underneath where the cut once was, the skin was completely unmarked. "I… I didn't want it to go this way, actually. I was thinking that I could use a mannequin instead of myself to use as bait for you and then pounce on you when you were least suspecting it, but I couldn't find one in any of the stores around, so I decided to take its place instead…"

"Bu-but what about the wound a-and the b-bl-blood?" Yang interrupted, trying her best to wipe away the last of her tears. "How did you… th-they looked so real!"

"I got these at a prop store. They're surprisingly easy to come by around Halloween…" Ruby trailed off and averted her eyes from Yang's expression of shock.

"Then why didn't you spring up at me s-sooner? Why d-did you wait w-while I-I thought you were… you were…"

"I-I didn't expect that kind of reaction from you!" Ruby exclaimed. "I thought you would just come up close and ins—ow!" Yang clocked her sharply on the head with a clenched fist.

"Are you kidding me?!" Anger welled up within Yang to replace her grief as she grabbed her sister by the shoulders and pulled her in close. "You are my baby sister and you are more precious to me than anything else in the world! Of course I'd act like I did! Don't you know how much I love you?" Her last words hung painfully in the air.

After a moment of staring into each others' eyes, the sisters pulled each other together in a tight embrace. When the hot tears rushed down her cheeks, Yang made no effort to stop them; she could also hear Ruby sobbing uncontrollably. For a while, the two of them rocked back and forth, clinging to each other as if they would be lost if they let go. They whispered apologies to each other between gasps of tears, both girls feeling rotten to the core.

"Ruby?" Yang asked once she finally gained control of her emotions.

"Yeah?"

"I promise that I'll never play any more tricks on you, on Halloween or any other time, or make fun of you or tease you, IF," Yang said, pulling Ruby's head toward her own and letting herself enjoy the warm of feeling her sister's presence. "If you promise me that you'll never, ever, scare me like that again. I can't bear to see you hurt."

"I promise, Yang." The two of them stayed together as they were for a long time, thankful that they still had each other. In the faint moonlight, Yang saw a weak smile stretch across Ruby's face. "I got you good, though, didn't I?"

Yang coughed loudly, seemingly forgetting how to laugh after their whole ordeal. "Yeah," she said glumly. "You sure did."

 _CRRRRRREEEEEEAAAK!_

The sound of metal scrapping against rusty metal startled the sisters. Ruby gripped tightly on her arm. "What was that?" she asked in a frightened whisper.

The sound of boots clacking on concrete echoed throughout the metal hull of the warehouse. With the sound bouncing all over, Yang couldn't tell from what direction it came from, but she had a good idea what caused it. "I think someone just came through the main door," she whispered back, daring her best to sound brave for her sister.

They heard the metal door screech shut, but the sounds of footsteps were no more, only a faint rustling of something sliding on cloth in the distance.

"Do you think they're just standing there?" Ruby asked, half puzzled.

"I don't know," stated Yang, though she had an awful feeling that whoever entered the warehouse was already creeping around. She could have sworn she heard some of the wooden crates around them creak. "Listen, Ruby, I don't have my weapons with me, and neither do you, so we need to sneak out of here."

"But how are we going to avoid whoever that is?" Ruby asked in a loud whisper. "We might just bump into them! Then what'll we do?"

Careful not to raise her voice too much, Yang replied. "Look, we might not be able to see our way around, but neither can they. If we're lucky, they might just stumble around in the dark and miss us!"

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," came a new, sly voice from above them. Yang spun her head around to see who spoke, but no body revealed itself in the darkness of the warehouse. All she could see were two shimmering, golden eyes piercing through the shadows.

"Hello, ladies."

Yang and Ruby grabbed each other and screamed.

* * *

Edited by Gorsouul


End file.
